Movies We Like is an ongoing series of ours in which we invite an industry guest to join us and bring along one of their favorite movies to talk about. In this month’s episode, cinematographer Sam Levy joins us to talk about one of his favorite films, John Huston’s 1972 boxing film Fat City.
We talk about the depressing story presented here as these characters try to reach the good life and why some of us can connect easier to it than others. We look at the incredible (and incredibly dark) cinematography by Conrad L. Hall and discuss the importance of a cinematographer getting to time their own film. We chat about the brilliant cast, from the actors like Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Susan Tyrrell and Nicholas Colasanto; to the real-life boxers like Curtis Cokes and Sixto Rodriguez. We discuss Kris Kristofferson’s song “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and why it works so well in this movie. And we touch on what critics thought of the movie compared with how it did at the box office.
John Huston was at a period in his career where he’d been making some duds so it’s great to see him return to top form with Fat City. It’s a master class in cinematic realism and a boxing film well worth watching and discussing. Check it out then tune in!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Screenplay
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Fat City by Leonard Gardner
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
- Sam Levy on Instagram
The Next Reel’s Family of Film Podcasts
- Cinema Scope
- The Film Board
- Freely Adapted (coming soon!)
- Movies We Like
- The Next Reel
- The Next Reel Shorts (retired)
- One Minute for Old Men (coming soon!)
- The Saturday Matinée (retired)
- Silver Linings (retired)
- Sitting in the Dark
- Three of a Kind (retired)
- Trailer Rewind (retired)
